Monday, 24 June 2013

Doombringer - Ancient Abominations

First time I’ve listened to any music from
Doombringer was when I got their amazing EP titled “Sevenfold Pestilence”,
released back in 2012. I must say that Doombringer really impressed me with the
dark and sinister blackened death metal and they quickly became one of my
favourite Polish bands. Obviously I decided to check some more info about the
band and then I discovered that it is a new project of some (ex??) Bestial
Raids and Cultes des Ghoules members – which are two much respected Polish
bands in the worldwide underground. I’m not surprised then that the quality of
music of Doombringer is so great. Anyway, my next encounter with their ghastly
sounds was the split 7”EP with Goat Tyrant, which again proved that Doombringer
is able to create a stunning, freezing atmosphere… and then I have found “Ancient
Abominations” compilation. I’ve found it one day in the distro and decided to
order. This red digipack release contains two Doombringer demos: “Abhorrent
Dreams of the End” (from 2009) and “Primeval Sorcery” (from 2008), so it
definitely is a nice addition to the collection, especially as both tapes are
quite difficult to obtain nowadays.

And I must say that “Ancient Abominations”
really possessed me for few days and Doombringer once more showed me how great
potential they have and how awesome is their music. But let’s start from the
beginning, shall we? And the beginning is “Primeval Sorcery” demo. I must admit
that this demo recording may actually be my least favourable release from all
Doombringer materials. It surely is the most primitive and savage of all their
recordings, it is utterly simple and raw, but I don’t want to say that it is
uninteresting or something, as it is still very solid and interesting release,
musically I think Doombringer was even more black metal here than death metal
and for sure right from the beginning of their existence the band was able to
capture the essence of darkness and evil. For example I got impressed by the
opening part of “Crossing the Path of Final Rite” straight away; what a killer
riffing, great rhythm, what a brilliant, dismal and malevolent atmosphere… Oh,
it is an enormous pleasure to listen to such sounds. And then also “Bones of
Sorcerer” really crushed my…hmm, bones, hehe, I especially like that killer
doomy riffing, which opens the song. Wow, it truly sounds grim, but the whole
song is over eight minutes long, so there are more good moments in there. All
in all Doombringer from their first demo was able to impress and if you’re into
such bands as Acheron, Beherit, Incantation, as well as into the old Greek
scene, then this demo will surely be something for you.

But the second demo of Doombringer, titled “Abhorrent
Dreams of the End”, is even better! First of all, I like the production of it
more. It feels like such sound fits the band’s style more and truly I must
admit that I am impressed by the whole demo a lot. Already the opening track is
something huge, even if in many ways “Descending into the Pit” is more like an intro – it begins with some
church organs or something and then a slow, doomy riff bursts and the vocals
howl: “descent… down there… windless stairs… downwards…”. Oh, what a great
atmosphere. I must say that I have a feeling like the music of Doombringer was
played in a chamber or even a church, where they desecrate and profanate the
once sacred place and shred it into the dust. This is what I meant, when I
wrote that the production of this demo fits the music perfectly, as it gives
this impression of abyssal, dark and evil blackened doom death metal. It is
almost like some sort of horrid mass or ritual! The whole “Abhorrent Dreams of the End” demo
has some truly crushing songs and along with the opening ritual, I must mention
the title song – which has some absolutely great riffs and utterly freezing
mood. I especially like that part with the keyboards! Then “…of the Ancient
Curse” impresses me every time I listen to this song – it is quite fast in few
parts, it even has more harmonious break in the middle part and in general this
is just a damn impressive and memorable anthem. And finally “Darkside Calls”…
Aaarrghhhhhh! Is it my favourite song from this demo? I guess so, the riffing
in it is truly possessing and the atmosphere once more is just evil and
ritualistic. It is impossible to resist it and I don’t even try – KILLER song.

I must strongly recommend this compilation CD to
the fans of Samael, Acheron, Beherit, Varathron, Necros Christos, Grave Miasma,
Antediluvian, Mitochondrion and the likes… I can assure you that Doombringer is
equally great and if you like all those bands, which I mentioned and pick up
some bits and pieces form them all and glue together then I am sure you will
know what is the sound and style of this Polish horrid form. I feel impressed
and possessed and cannot wait to hear the debut album of Doombringer, which is
going to be released by Malignant Voices soon, I hope…

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What is this blog for...?

This blog is first and foremost to remind the UG metal community my work on PANZERFAUST zine, so I'll try to exhume my old interviews and reviews from that zine.

Blog is also an opportunity for me to share my thoughts on new releases, new bands... I'll publish here new reviews or interviews I've written recently, just for the pleasure of doing so and getting these things out of my mind, as I still enjoy writing about the music I love and live.Finally I'll be sharing here any others things I find interesting...